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Andrew Wiles

20 quotes

“I think I'll stop here.”
Andrew Wiles (born 1953) first seen 1993 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: After finishing writing the proof to Fermat's Last Thereom (June 23, 1993), as quoted by
“I grew up in Cambridge in England, and my love of mathematics dates from those early childhood days.”
Andrew Wiles (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I loved doing problems in school. I'd take them home and make up new ones of my own.”
Andrew Wiles (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But the best problem I ever found, I found in my local public library. I was just browsing through the section of math books and I found this one book, which was all about one particular problem -- Fermat's Last Theorem.”
Andrew Wiles (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Here was a problem, that I, a ten year old, could understand and I knew from that moment that I would never let it go. I had to solve it.”
Andrew Wiles (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I realized that anything to do with Fermat's Last Theorem generates too much interest.”
Andrew Wiles (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I really believed that I was on the right track, but that did not mean that I would necessarily reach my goal.”
Andrew Wiles (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Young children simply aren't interested in Fermat. They just want to hear a story and they're not going to let you do anything else.”
Andrew Wiles (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Fermat couldn't possibly have had this proof.”
Andrew Wiles (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I don't believe Fermat had a proof. I think he fooled himself into thinking he had a proof.”
Andrew Wiles (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But what has made this problem special for amateurs is that there's a tiny possibility that there does exist an elegant 17th-century proof.”
Andrew Wiles (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Fermat was my childhood passion.”
Andrew Wiles (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I hope that seeing the excitement of solving this problem will make young mathematicians realize that there are lots and lots of other problems in mathematics which are going to be just as challenging in the future.”
Andrew Wiles (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But perhaps that's always the way with math problems, and we just have to find new ones to capture our attention.”
Andrew Wiles (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Certainly one thing that I've learned is that it is important to pick a problem based on how much you care about it.”
Andrew Wiles (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“However impenetrable it seems, if you don't try it, then you can never do it.”
Andrew Wiles (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Always try the problem that matters most to you.”
Andrew Wiles (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I had this rare privilege of being able to pursue in my adult life, what had been my childhood dream.”
Andrew Wiles (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I know it's a rare privilege, but if one can really tackle something in adult life that means that much to you, then it's more rewarding than anything I can imagine.”
Andrew Wiles (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Perhaps I can best describe my experience of doing mathematics in terms of a journey through a dark unexplored mansion. You enter the first room of the mansion and it's completely dark. You stumble around bumping into the furniture, but gradually you learn where each piece of furniture is. Finally, after six months or so, you find the light switch, you turn it on, and suddenly it's all illuminated. You can see exactly where you were. Then you move into the next room and spend another six months in the dark. So each of these breakthroughs, while sometimes they're momentary, sometimes over a period of a day or two, they are the culmination of—and couldn't exist without—the many months of stumbling around in the dark that proceed them.”
Andrew Wiles (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source